Adil Rashid To Replace Michael Yardy In England Squad

England have named Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire legspinner, as a replacement for Michael Yardy who quit the World Cup suddenly citing depression.
Ironically Rashid may not even figure in the tournament at all if England fail to beat Sri Lanka in their quarter-final clash on Saturday in Colombo.
Rashid is presently in the Carribean as part of the England Lions tour and is due to arrive on Saturday morning with a view to acclimatising in time for the semi-final should England beat Sri Lanka.
Rashid last played for England in a one-day international against South Africa, at Centurion, in November 2009.
Meanwhile, a stunned English squad was still trying to regroup after Yardy’s sudden departure.
Yardy however, received full support from his team-mates after they were informed of his decision to leave the tournament. “I think players should be open about that because it can be a big problem,” Ravi Bopara said. “It’s not a minor issue, not something you can look upon lightly. It can affect someone quite badly and affect their life so you should be open about it. I’m glad that he’s been open about it. Whether it’s made it easier or not I don’t know. I haven’t suffered from depression, or not yet anyway, so that’s all I can say.”
Bopara added that he’d noticed Yardy didn’t quite seem himself around the team in recent days but had no inkling of the seriousness of the situation. “I’ve noticed over the last couple of days that he wasn’t 100% Michael Yardy,” he said. “Usually he’s quite bubbly, quite a busy character, but he wasn’t busy the last couple of days so I did notice something, but I didn’t notice that it was to the extent that he needed to go home.”
“Leaving at this stage of a World Cup campaign was a very difficult decision to make but I felt that it was the only sensible option for me and I wanted to be honest about the reason behind that decision,” Yardy said.
“I would like to wish the squad all the very best ahead of the game on Saturday. I would appreciate some privacy over the coming weeks while I spend time with family and close friends ahead of what I hope will be a successful season for Sussex.”
Ironically, Yardy would probably not have been part of England’s plan in any case as the all rounder was dropped from the team following a very disappointing performance in the world cup.
In three games, Yardy took just two wickets at a huge cost of 79 runs apiece and could manage only 19 runs with the bat.